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USF Essex. Admiralty style model 1/64 from Takakjian plans

Portia's plans are NOT accurate. You can still build an accurate model if your photos reflect your progress. For example, the Essex had five transom windows, not eight. The definitive authority on the Essex is Chad Smith's book "The Frigate Essex Papers: Building the Salem Frigate 1798-1799". I assisted Chad in researching the Essex, and built a model of the Essex which was on display at the Peabody Museum. I am currently writing a book about " Building an accurate model of the Essex" which is scheduled to be published Next fall. I would be happy to show you how to make an accurate model, if you are interested. PLEASE contact me at waltzimmer@aol,com.



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@Woodrat Thanks for the updated photos as found them to be very interesting and well done workmanship. This is an area where I could use more help with learning how ships were actually built and how to model them more accurately.

@Walt Zimmerman : I had been planning on purchasing the book on the Essex by Portia - but now you've thrown a curve ball into that decision.
Given Portia's reputation as a historian on this matter, where did she get led astray in her investigation on this ship? Are there other inaccuracies that we should be aware of?
 
Very interested in this thread. I am about to start building the Model Shipways "admiralty style" kit of the USF Essex. I will be posting the build log on NRG's Model Ship World website.
 
I wish to make some final comments before closing down this log. We all strive for accuracy and sometimes even come close but we shouldn't delude ourselves that we can produce "replicas" in miniature even of ships from 17th through 19th century.where plans may exist. We often are driven by patriotism or a real interest in history to replicate famous historical ships, such as the Essex or rhe Golden Hind. What we produce are imperfect facsimiles of that ship which are beautiful to regard there in the study. Even contemporary plans such as those in the magnificent collection at Greenwich are often depicting ships "as planned" and not "as built"

A word about Admiralty and Navy Board models. These are beautiful representations of ships "as planned" but in no way do they represent how the hull was actually framed. They represent a way of making ship hulls in miniature with a reproducible method but are really short cuts to a fully framed hull. Very few models (one or two in this forum) go out of their way to produce hull framing close to what the shipwrights actually did using accurate scantlings and frame construction and often such models are destined for museums and in previous times for teaching purposes. .

Let us all just have fun and enjoy the time in the shed. It matters not how you build the vessels, Navy Board, plank on bulkhead, solid hull, card or paddle-pop sticks. Put them in glass cases, bottles or just hang them from your ceiling. Enjoy your hobby and inspire the young with your efforts.

Cheerio
Dick
 
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I really am impressed by the Elizabethan model of WoodRat? I hope I have that
correct. Any backround on this Model?
 
One thing about Essex. I think that the Ship gets a bad deal. If you look at the
history of the Ship in the War of 1812. She is a real Hero of the War. She gets
Overshadowed by the Constitution. It’s really sad,
 
Woodrat said:
Thanks, Walt for the offer but I am finished with the Essex. It was buit 20 years ago when all that was available were Portia;s plans and Chappelle's lines.
If what I produced was inaccurate, sobeit. But it was, after all ,my first shipmodel. It taught me much and I am still proud of it with all its faults
Cheers
Dick:)
Click to expand...
Looks like an awesome job, especially for a first ship model!!!!
 
Allegheny said:
@Woodrat Thanks for the updated photos as found them to be very interesting and well done workmanship. This is an area where I could use more help with learning how ships were actually built and how to model them more accurately.

@Walt Zimmerman : I had been planning on purchasing the book on the Essex by Portia - but now you've thrown a curve ball into that decision.
Given Portia's reputation as a historian on this matter, where did she get led astray in her investigation on this ship? Are there other inaccuracies that we should be aware of?
Click to expand...
 
I don’t know. The Book via the Peabody Essex Museum was published in 1974.
It tells you almost everything you need to know about the building of the Ship.
Much more is know about the building of Essex than the original building of
Constitution. How Portia could have been so off is really amazing.
 
There are MANY incorrect references in Portia.s book. The Authority on the ESSEX is Chad Smith's Book "The Frigate Essex Papers: Building the Salem Frigate 1798-1799" In 1806, Josia Fox had a contract to rebuild the ESSEX, and he surveyed the ship in preparation. His notes are meticulous, precise and complete. Also there are many other notes about the provisions and purchased parts of the ship contained in the "papers" that were discovered in 1940 in an attic in Salem. There is also a contemporary painting of the ESSEX. Thus, there is more information about the ESSEX than any other ship of the period. I worked with Chad Smith and Bill Baker in research, and built a model of the ESSEX, which I donated to the Peabody Museum in Salem. Chad Smith was the Curator of Maritime History at the Peabody, and Bill Baker was the Curator of the Hart Museum at MIT. I made a small book about my model for family and friends a couple of years ago, and now have a contract to write a book for Seawatch Books, to be published next Fall, and recently won a Silver Medal in the NRG photo contest. There will be some coverage of my model in the next issue of the NRG Journal. In all humility, I believe my model of the ESSEX is the most accurate representation of the actual ship. I have offered to help several modelers with their projects. I agree that the ESSEX was an important ship: It was the largest ship ever built in the Salem shipyards, and had a distinguished career. She was understandably overshadowed by her sister ship, the "Constitution". Why Portia Takakjian and Model Shipways have never gotten it correctly I don't know.
 
TimMurphy said:
I really am impressed by the Elizabethan model of WoodRat? I hope I have that
correct. Any backround on this Model?
Click to expand...
Thanks Tim. Most kind.it is in fact a venetian carrack or cocha of 1445. I made my own plans in an old fashioned way. I used nobody else's plans. The build is fully documented on Model ship world. I will not reproduce it here.
Dick
 
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